Samuel Johnson Prize 2014 longlist announced

The non-fiction book prize has revealed the 15 titles on its longlist

Jonathan Meades and Ben Watt are among those shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize 2014Photo: Edward Sykes / REX

By Ben Travis

12:01AM BST 02 Sep 2014

The Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction has revealed the 15 books on its longlist.

Now in its 16th year, the prize is open to non-fiction books on the topics of current affairs, history, politics, science, sport, travel, biography, autobiography and the arts. Last year’s winner was The Pike by Lucy Hughes-Hallett, a biography of controversial Italian writer Gabriele D’Annunzio.

This year’s longlist features six memoirs, as noted by chair of judges Claire Tomalin:

“We have two medical works, a touch of wildlife, some deplorable current affairs and one dazzling piece of extended literary criticism. History brings five titles: ranging from Jewish children in World War Two France to slave rebellion during the Napoleonic wars – plus an exploration of an English family tree the like of which has never been made before.

“We had a lot of arguments, but our disagreements were friendly as well as fierce, and we are still on speaking terms. And yes, the books on the longlist show that non-fiction is certainly stranger and wilder than fiction.”